The Annual National Conference of the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse (AMERSA) is the major meeting for health professional educators who teach about alcohol and other drug problems. AMERSA's primary mission is to encourage the creation and delivery of educational programs in substance abuse for healthcare professionals and to develop a cadre of educators who are effective in facilitating the transfer of research to practice. AMERSA (1) provides leadership and improves training for healthcare professionals in the management of problems related to alcohol, tobacco and other drugs; (2) disseminates state-of the- art information about substance abuse research and education through means such as the annual national scientific meeting and the organization's journal, Substance Abuse; (3) provides mentoring for health professionals interested in becoming teachers, clinicians and researchers in the field; (4) promotes cultural competence in health care professionals in their work with individuals from underserved and high-risk populations affected by alcohol, tobacco and other drug problems; (5) promotes collaboration among multiple professions including, but not limited to, medicine, nursing, social work, psychology, dentistry, pharmacology, and public health; and (6) builds a national network of substance abuse experts who can advise local, national, and international organizations on substance abuse education for health professionals through representation at national forums. The annual meeting gives physicians, nurses, social workers, and other health professionals the opportunity to increase their knowledge of scientific advances and new educational programs focused on substance abuse issues. This proposal builds on AMERSA's 30-year history of successful annual national conferences. The proposed 5-year project will strengthen the high quality and diversity of the national meetings, to be held 2007-2011, by (1) providing fees to attract plenary speakers who are preeminent in the areas of substance abuse research and education, and (2) providing continuing education credits gratis to targeted participants, especially those from traditionally minority institutions, and (3) conducting outreach mailings and advertising to organizations whose members work with patients/clients from these underserved and high-risk groups. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]